the oh! bag

Just imagine the delight of a fabric-loving mom taking her 13yr. old daughter to the fabric store and watching her run from bolt to bolt exclaiming quite loudly that

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She loves this one!

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No.

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This one!

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Oh, but wait!

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I love this fabric more!

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I honestly just stood back and glowed. My husband glows when our son hits a home-run, but I glow when my daughter can be seen hugging a bolt of fabric up and down the aisle looking for that perfect complimentary fabric that will just make the bag she wants.

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She chose this fabric and she was walking on air when she spotted the most perfect handle to complete her bag. All of this purchased at JoAnn Fabric.

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While she & her dad were out shopping, I was able to quickly finish the oh! bag. And because her dad was taking a long time trying to purchase all of the things he wanted -- she made a quick call home to see how much progress I had made.

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Pretending that --yawn-- I was just barely started on it, I could hear her disappointment that Mom could just not seem to sew faster.

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Little did she realize that it was already completed & hanging by the back door for when she & Dad came home.

Oh! She loves her oh! bag. And the cutest thing? -- o.h. are her initials.

so girly -- once again

Once again we are -- so girly -- here.
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Another one of these small carryalls, but for our older teen.
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Taking cross-stitch pattern that looked most like her from this book ...
a

and the deepest blues that mimic the sea....
g

and a black & white animal print...

a couple of fabric yo-yo's and some ric-rac...

And she's got a brand new bag.

another bag

The current fashion craze of black nail polish and skull & cross-bones adorning clothing....eeeehhh. Not exactly my thing. Okay, truly not my style, but when our teen asked if I could make another bag for another friend, I made it to her modern specifications.

And then we found this rather cute skull fabric at the fabric store. Actually, not too scary and quite adorable when coupled with the flowery, black fabric.

And the friend -- well, she loooooooooooooved it. Along with the black nail polish that came with the bag.

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Yah...well. My desire will still lie in the vintage-y goodness of the fabrics from my grandma's apron & tattered quilts found hidden in an attic.

it's a middle child thing

Our middle child tends to go without. She does this, I think, partly because she does not want to be demanding or nagging. Or maybe it's because we middle children are somehow programmed at birth to be sooooooooo accommodating & non-demanding.

Ha.

But when I saw her school bag and saw how torn & ratty it had become, I gave her a stack of books & pictures to browse through for some idea for a new school bag. Just for her.

She paged & paged and looked & looked. She then rough cut a pattern from paper and glued yarn for the right length for the strap. And using fabric that was in my stash -- this is what I/we came up with.

She hasn't seen it yet, but it's hanging on her chair for when she comes home from school.

And, oh, boy, I can almost hear her older sister now -- cue that pre-recorded/highly used phrase -- but that's not fair.........

.grin.

sweet 16

Sitting in the kitchen, our daughter tells me that it is her friend's Sweet 16 birthday -- and could I please make her friend a bag for that birthday?

And here's the thing, Mom -- it has to be done by tomorrow.......

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Oooooooooookay. So I draw a rough pattern on paper. And make a very hasty stop into the fabric store, lazily strolling down each row of fabric, fingering all those beautiful patterns and texture...Note to self--Shopping with a time constraint is not the way to shop in any fabric store!

And of course at home -- there's slivers to take out of 9 year old boys who play too heartily at recess. And suppers to get on the table. And daughters to be picked up from catechism class. And 4 pages of a history assignment. And styrofoam cells that need to be hot-glued into place....

And a bag for a very sweet 16 year old. Happy birthday, Kara.

simple bird

~I heard a bird at break of day

Sing from the autumn trees

A song so mystical and calm,

So full of certainties,

No man, I think, could listen long

Except upon his knees;

Yet, this was but a simple bird,

Alone, among the trees.~

William Alexander Percy 1885-1942

This simple bird, hand-embroidered with appliqued flowers is now done. Phew. Took a bit longer than I had anticipated, but coupled with the yellow cabbage rose fabric -- I am SO pleased at how it turned out.

The bag itself was quite easy to sew. But thank goodness for the drawings because I am not someone who can just follow the written word. Draw it out for me and you got yourself one happy lady.

The inside of this bag is that aprony goodness that my GrAnna would have made and worn. Obviously no more explanation why that fabric went into this bag. Just one tiny draw-back about this bag -- it is too small for me to use. I tend to use a purse the size of a suitcase. My husband just looooooooooooves that.



But my girls DO like the smallness of it. And especially the wonky way the handle slides into the other handle as the closure. I just love the colors, the texture of the embroidery and the eclectic choice of fabrics. We'll see how well it does in the bag challenge.

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Edit: Dandy will have our pics loaded for the bag challenge by this weekend. You can go to All People Quilt and take a look at the bags.

birdy bag

Dandy asked me if I wanted to join her in this bag challenge --

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Hmmmm.........let's see -- it involves new fabric, a fun, fun purse pattern, fabulous floss & an excuse to sit & sew with a faraway friend -- believe me, my arm did not need too much twisting!

So she sent me swatches of the bag she made and off to the fabric store I went in search of coordinating fabric and I found these yummy fabrics -- and yes! I-want-my-entire-bedroom-wallpapered-in-this-flower-fabric -- (Sorry, dear. -- insert husband rolling his eyes-->here.)

The front panel of this bag will get this embroidered birdy. I'm stitching this little guy every chance I get because the split stitch and chain stitch is a little bit more time consuming than I thought. Okay -- a lot more time consuming than I thought.

And since this weekend is Labor Day weekend, I am hoping to carry this with me and prop myself in a lawn chair the eeeeeeeeentire weekend -- while my no-flowers-on-my-bedroom-wall husband will be grilling all of our meals on the outdoor grill & the kids will be cleaning up after him..... ahem.

crocheted wristlet

Using the new Spa yarn from Caron, I crocheted this wristlet. There's just something so old-fashioned about having a lovely purse adorning a wrist.

Using this apron-y looking fabric, I lined the inside to give it more stability. Having 'stolen' one of my teen's make-up bags I decided this wristlet would make a perfect catch-all for make-up, band-aids, nail clippers, pain reliever, measuring tape....let's see, what have I forgotten?

And using this vintage button from the button stash given to me by my great-aunt completes that whole yummy feel to this most delicious yarn. And yes, this yarn is so positively soft and creamy to the touch.

This fabric just makes me smile. In fact~~~I think I'll be using this wristlet the next time my husband and I go out. Maybe grilled shrimp?

ooooh. red is my favorite color!

Actually red is not my favorite color. But it is my sister's---and she has been dropping some pretty broad hints since.....oh...'bout November when it was our other sister's birthday and then again at Christmas about getting a bag from me.

And yay!....she finally had her birthday and guess what she got?

Tada! A bag! And when picking out the fabric I did not intend to incorporate her favorite color but I loved, loved this flowery fabric and then had to walk through the fabric store for about 16 hours searching for that perfect complementary border/detachable flower fabric.

I then sneakily drove to her house. Deposited the wrapped parcel on her front doorstep. And sped away. When the phone rang later it was her calling to gush that she loooooooves that bag.

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Happy birthday, sissie. Finally, huh?

hand quilting

I just returned from a hand-quilting class at our local quilt & fabric store. The teacher , Nadine, has studied extensively with women who only hand sew. She used Alex Anderson's book and was a wealth of information. I soaked up every thing she had to say.

Such as: use polyester instead of cotton batting. I brought cotton. Bring loosely woven muslin. I brought tightly woven muslin. Use #9 quilting needles. I brought #10's.......okay, probably not off to a good start. But once I got the kinks worked out, I L.O.V.E.D. it! Absolutely, feel in love with this whole process. Sheesh! I was giddy after just tracing the stencil....and got a few stares from the other women there with my show of enthusiasm.

And of course, if I need an excuse to make another bag, I will come up with one. Who can show up to their first day of class without a new bag? So I used some fabric from Fat Quarter Shop, an embroidered vintage dresser scarf, and no, couldn't stop there. I also crocheted this chatelaine to hold my needles, thimble and scissors.

It was the first time that I have taken a class such as this and I came home dancing a jig with what I learned.

bold & beautiful

The bag that I was asked to make is finished!......and looks very bold and according to my teen & tween--'beautiful'.

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However, I'm not so sure the deep snow that still covers our front yard is beautiful. Here is our son buried up to his knees. And it's March??!! Yup, the calendar says it is, but good golly, I'm not so sure the weather is up to snuff with the actual spring that is supposedly just around the corner.

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It took me a long time to figure out how to do this front 'patch' that also serves as a pocket. For some reason I couldn't picture how each strip would come to a point and meet exactly at center. After ripping a few seams it came out like this:


It has huge pockets in the interior (but lack of light prevented me from taking a good photo of them) for cell phone, iPod, pens, make-up, etc...and is nice and roomy to be a catch-all for all of those girly things we girls tend to carry.

And now it gets shipped off to my sister-in-law, Beth who will auction it off at her yearly fund-raiser.